Warning: Proceed With Caution

Recently in the news we all have been seeing that Russia has been enacting certain laws that are anti-lgbt. Because of these new laws anti-laws groups have been surfacing all over. These groups have been coming together to hunt down LGBT persons and forcing them to do horrible acts. One such group is lead by the notorious neo-nazi Maxim Martsinkevich. Martsinkevich is better known by the name Tesak that translates to “The Hatchet”. His anti-lgbt group “Occupy Pedophilia” tracks down and lures gay males through fake dating ads on the Russian version of Facebook to various apartments where he proceeds to humiliate and attack his victims. While Maxim is abusing his victims the entire encounter is filmed then put on the Internet for the world to view. Most of his victims are very young males around the age of 15 years old. He openly expresses that he wants to be able to kill his victims but he is not allowed to so he resorts to methods that are just as horrible as being killed. “Among his favored routines is forcing victims to kneel before him naked as he shaves off their hair and paints a rainbow flag on their scalps. The rainbow flag is the symbol of the international gay rights movement. In other videos, he has forced his victims to imitate oral sex with sex toys, or to call their acquaintances, university professors or employers to embarrass them. On occasion he has poured what looks to be urine over victims’ heads. In one clip, two young men are forced to dance together half naked as one of them weeps.” (Bidder. Web). These groups are being protected under the Russian government because they are seen as doing “Vigilante Justice.” They are keeping the homosexuality and pedophilia away from the children of Russia. The new law that was established states that the propaganda of homosexuality Propaganda is the act of distributing information among minors that 1) is aimed at the creating nontraditional sexual attitudes, 2) makes nontraditional sexual relations attractive, 3) equates the social value of traditional and nontraditional sexual relations, or 4) creates an interest in nontraditional sexual relations. (Bidder. Web). And what is extremely problematic about this new law is that is just does not only effect the citizens of Russia but also any foreign citizen visiting Russia. Any persons of who are LGBT or expected of being LGBT are subjected to various amounts of fines ranging from $125 up to the high amounts of $30,000. And in some of the cases you can also be sentenced to 15 days of jail time or even be deported out of Russia. So I sit here wondering what is going to happen at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics to our LGBT athletes? Are they going to have to hide and be on a consist fear and alert of being gay bashed, fined, deported, or sentenced to jail?